Foster home

Displaced collegiate star finds key role with Rayz

Two days before the Rayz' season opener on Oct. 21, the Rayz coach
was scanning the daily hockey transactions when he noticed Foster was
put on waivers by the East Coast Hockey League's Long Beach Ice
Dogs.

A lot of times, the names on those transactions are of
past-their-prime players or rookies brought in as training camp
fodder.

Foster didn't fit into either category. He was an accomplished
player from one of the nation's top collegiate programs and the owner
of two national title rings.

If he was available, McRae was going to make sure it wasn't for
long.

"I kept tabs on him through some contacts," McRae said. "If he
didn't make it where he was, I was going to pursue him pretty
heavily.

"(Getting him was) huge. I think we've got 10 (forwards) who bring a
little bit of everything to the table. We've got some energy, we've got
some toughness, we've got a lot of skill. It gave us more skill when we
added him, there's no doubt about it."

Foster showed some of that skill hours after he joined the team by
scoring in the Oct. 22 home opener against Austin, redirecting a
centering pass that was inches off the ice for his first professional
goal.

With the uncertainty surrounding top-line wing Jason Baird after he
suffered a knee injury on Sunday, Foster might become a more prominent
part of the Rayz' plans.

"He can play anywhere," McRae said. "He can play on the first line
and it doesn't matter who I play him with at even strength; he gives us
scoring on every line. He's going to get power-play time and provide
depth for our hockey club."

In Long Beach, Foster found himself the odd man out after the Ice
Dogs were assigned some players from the American Hockey League. So he
found himself without a job, but not lacking for suitors, as the
2005-06 season approached.

"Of the teams I was talking to in this league, this situation
sounded like the best" he said of the Rayz. "It's a good city and they
were supposed to have a great team, so I definitely wanted to come
here."

Foster is coming off his best collegiate season. As a senior at the
University of Denver, he scored 21 goals in 41 games in 2004-05 as the
Pioneers successfully defended their national championship.

"I think I just felt better out there and more confident," Foster
said. "In the first three years, I was battling some injuries with my
knee. But I just felt great going into my senior year and right off the
bat, I had a couple of goals and they just kept coming."

Foster hasn't scored since that home opener, and has had some
typical rookie mistakes, such as a neutral-zone turnover that led to
Laredo's go-ahead goal on Saturday night.

But he understands his role and the expectations put on a player
with his accomplishments.

"(McRae) says he wants me to score goals and add good offense,"
Foster said. "That's what I'm trying to do. He wants me to be strong on
the puck and whenever I get a shot, to put it on net.

"It's definitely hard going from being a veteran at (the collegiate)
level to being a rookie again. It's something that can be difficult to
deal with, but here, it hasn't been bad at all. It's been exciting so
far."